Help! I need a new ATV cover.
 

I don't have a garage and my ATV won't fit in my shed so it sits outside year-round. My current cover is made for ATVs up to 48" tall and keeps the tires almost completely covered. But 2 days ago I was going to shake some snow off it and as soon as I grabbed the cover and pulled up it ripped wide open about 2' across. I put a tarp on the ATV with the cover over it for now but need a new cover before the old tarp fall apart too. So I'm looking for suggestions for a new cover.

This one is a Classic Accessories and has an elastic cord around the bottom that's way too weak. I shortened the cord 2' by tying it in a knot and the wind still blew it off. I'm thinking that a trailering cover would stay on no matter how much the wind gusts, but most of them I see don't come down near the ground. I spent a lot of time looking on amazon and still don't know what to get. I looked at prices and I looked at ratings but neither one helped. I found one of the cheapest covers was also one of the highest rated, but when I read a couple of reviews one person said the cover only lasted 2 years before it was torn up. I don't want to buy a new cover every year or every other year no matter how cheap it is. I'd rather spend more on something that will last but don't want to spend a lot if I don't have to. Please help me.

How much are you willing to spend? I don't have a garage, and my shed is in the back yard. So I needed something for the bike. On my second one of these, and each was a different brand. First one was expensive. (to me) $425 for it, second one was half that. I have anchor bolts holding it in the driveway. Not sure if you have a pad or just dirt to park yours on.This is the newer one. Just a tad bit narrower than than old one. And my bike needed a bath.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/atvconn...2db4bf5827.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/atvconn...e3bc81cd76.jpg


That being said, you could probably build a small, wood frame shed for about the same price. A 5wx7lx5h "house" would be about right for it. If the city would let me do that in my drive, that's what I'd have.

I had covers made for my quads from a truck tarp company. Extremely heavy duty, waterproof, has built in D ring tiedowns to tie off so no wind will blow it away. Havent used them in years with my SxS. These things are heavy, probably over 50 lbs each. Use one for rack on back of my motorhome but still have one in storage not being used. I paid over 250 each to have them made. Each is almost 4 ft tall x 52 in wide and over 8 ft long. When used trailering the wind will not flap them apart. If you might be interested in the one I have left, let me know...yoy will never need another cover. Send me a pm if interested.

I could spend more than the $55 it would take to buy another cover like this one, but I'm always broke and don't want to spend hundreds if I don't have to. The "bike tent" looks nice but I don't think it would work very well for me. My quad is chained to a fence post like in this picture all winter. Whatever I use won't be bolted down and I don't want to back up inside anything. I have a hard enough time parking in the right spot already. When I take the plow off I park the trailer next to the shed with my truck right in front of it. Then I take the plow off, turn the quad 90 degrees and park closer to where the trailer is in the picture. It's harder to see from the street that way, and I put the boots on the wheels. I only chain it to the fence post because it's too much trouble to use the boots in the winter. My house is in front of the trailer and I wouldn't have room to turn to get into another shed if one was there. And I can't get in the back yard without pulling fence posts that I pounded 4' into the ground and welded together at the top. I have arthritis in both shoulders and every vertebra of my neck and back. I couldn't handle a 50+ pound tarp but have no doubt it would stay put and last forever. I think a regular ATV cover but with stronger elastic or a strap around the bottom would work best for me. If it was tight enough around the bottom part of the wheels it wouldn't keep blowing off.

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This is why I can't put another shed next to the old one. And why I have to move the trailer and park the ATV right next to it. I took this picture today. That's after I only plowed twice this winter and it's had some time to melt. In a bad year my snow pile can get 10' wide, 20' long, and twice as high as this. It's the only place I can pile the snow so it limits my storage options.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/atvconn...694d66fd61.jpg

You need a nice 2 stage snowblower to toss that snow over to the neighbors yard. Out of site, out of mind! Lol....Had a similar thing in the first house the wife and I had. No place to stack the snow and we had a lot more snow back then to deal with. Now that I have all this room to pile up my snow....we dont get much snow! Go figure.....

I used to blow the snow up and down my driveway then blow it in the front and back yards. But where it landed in the driveway it packed down and was a lot harder to blow. It's so much easier to sit on my butt and plow the snow.

I guess it doesn't matter what kind of cover I have on my ATV from Sunday morning until Monday morning. It won't be there long. The wind will be blowing 30-40 mph all day with gusts of 50-60 mph likely and gusts of over 60 mph possible! :eek: Tuesday's trash will probably have my shredded cover in it. Maybe a tarp too. I still haven't found what I'm looking for. Or I have but don't know if it's any good or not. I suppose I could get the same kind of cover I have now and buy some stronger elastic to put in the hem, but I'd rather have something I don't have to modify. Any warranty I had would go right out the window. With a 50 mph gust!

The cover I have wont shred, they are designed and made of the same material soft side semi trailer covers are made from. The ride down the highway at 75 mph daily. It was a semi truck cover place that made the covers for me. The spare tire cover was made from the same material, covered that spare for 15 yrs, never shreded, cracked or nothing. Cleaned it off with simple green and sold it with the trailer. Buyer wondered if that cover was new! Drive a couple stakes in the ground to tie off your cover then it will still be there after the wind storm....

If I had to take a cover that heavy off and put it back on it would aggravate my arthritis. Before I went out on total and permanent disability I couldn't lift anything heavier than 20 pounds at work because of my medical restrictions. I was sitting around the house getting workman's comp while I had restrictions against lifting over 15 pounds. Then one day I got a call from work saying they found a job for me if the doctor changed my restrictions to 20 pounds. So that's what happened. Most days I was making S-10 pickup fenders which weren't too heavy, but once in awhile I'd drop one. Because of the carpal tunnel syndrome in both of my wrists I didn't even know I was losing my grip and letting go. So far I'm dealing with all the pain and numbness the best I can, but I don't know how much longer I'll be able to ride. I'll still use my ATV for plowing snow and need to keep it covered. The last time I saw my cover it was up against a fence on the other side of my neighbor's yard. I'm not going out to get it until tomorrow, if it's still there.

My old cover is toast. When I picked it up and took a look at it, the tear it already had ripped open in both directions and didn't stop until it got to the seams. I'm going to keep the elastic. If I add it to whatever cover I end up buying maybe that will help keep it on. I still don't know what to buy.

With 3-6" of snow falling I decided I need a cover now, not later. Another cover like my old one is $50.99 in the X-Large directly from Classic Accessories. But when I looked at covers again on smile.amazon.com it was $27.74 with free shipping. That's roughly 45.5% off. For that price I went ahead and ordered it. Here's what it cost me altogether.

Total Before Tax: $27.74.
Estimated Tax: $1.66.
Reward Points: $18.94.
Gift Card: $5.00.
Order Total: $5.46.

That's a helluva lot better than $50.99! I had those rewards points from my amazon credit card, and got the gift card for filling out a survey from my ISP. The total price of $5.46 was charged to the same credit card so I'll get 3X points with my purchase. At least I know what to expect from this cover, instead of getting a different one and hoping it works out. I shouldn't have to replace it again for several years. Maybe next time I'll shop around before it starts tearing and I can find something better. There's a Large for $47.95 and an XX-Large for $59.99. X-Large fits over my front brush guard and rear bumper.

https://classicaccessories.com/catal...t/view/id/897/

Heck ya...at that price you could get a new one every year! Hell even buy two so if one tears your still covered....With the 65 mph winds we had here last week I would have had to attach a gps unit to the cover if I ever expected to find it....

:lmao: That was a good one. One year we had a really high wind, the kind you get when there's a tornado not too far away, and I found a kid's plastic wading pool in my back yard. It belonged to my neighbors half a block away and flew over a few other fences before it went over a 6' privacy fence. I wonder if it flew upside-down like a Frisbee? Maybe it looked like a UFO? I don't know because I was in the basement where it's fairly safe.

The company that made my ATV cover may be going to quit making them. They told me that's the only one they had, but they had all three sizes. They used to make seven different models but only had that one.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/atvconn...6981e4bb30.jpgBlue UFO.

I put my new cover on and the bottom of it doesn't even cover the hubs. It's supposed to be the same model as my old one that came down almost to the ground. I don't see how they can both be 48" high like it says on the box when there's more than a 1' difference in height. So I'm sending it back and I'm right back to square one. I need a new cover, preferably one that comes down to the ground or close to it. It has to at least cover my trailer hitch because that's where my lock is sitting and I need to keep the snow and rain off it. If it doesn't at least cover half of the wheels a small gust of wind will blow it off. The farther it has to go before it comes off the better.

Might just be a flawed cover, bad products do slip thru now and then. Talk to the people where you bought it. Then again companies are always looking for ways to cut corners, a little here a little there...no one will notice or that will be close enough. You now see why I had custom covers made, yep more costly but...they fit like they are supposed to and last forever.

That tent thing that scooter posted is starting to look better now. I think I would have to park first then put it over the ATV, instead of driving into it. But I should ask for a quote on a custom cover. There's a place that used to be called Flint Tent & Awning that's now it's called Mid-Michigan Tent & Awning. It's only a 4 or 5 minute drive from me and they make all kinds of awnings, canopies, and tarps for semis. If I do get one made I think it will be a simple rectangular box shape. I don't know why I never thought about them earlier.

Mid-Michigan Canvas & Awning: Tarpaulins

That is what mine is, a simple rectangle box that drops over the atv. I have a semi tarp mfgr just a few miles from me as well that is who made mine. Cost will depend on which material you choose, I went with the best they had, totally waterproof and windproof and not bothered by extreme cold. Yes they cost me a couple hundred each but 18 yrs later they show no sign of wear and still look and feel like new! A little dirty, only but easily cleaned, nothing needed to coat them like the old canvass days. In the long run, I think a good custom cover will be your best option.

All of my ATV covers have had a front and back to them. Some were marked but not all of them. I tried putting one of them on backward a lot of times then had to turn it around to make it fit. With a plain box shape the front and back would be the same. If it came all the way down to the ground I wouldn't have to worry about the sun rotting out my tires again. It should have a slit in the ends high enough for my chain to go through. The chain goes through an upper and lower A-arm and hangs at an angle to the fence post. When I take the plow off I'll unchain it and put the boots on the front wheels. I'll have to get the cover made wide enough to go over them. I don't really want to get a custom cover made but it sounds like my best option, unless someone knows where to buy a good cover.

No such thing as an over the counter "good" cover. By the time you buy a couple cheap covers, you could have a really good one made!

I've been working on a design in my head but haven't put it on paper yet. The top and sides would all be one piece of material and the 2 end pieces would have the corners rounded off. The flat part on top only needs to be as wide as the handlebars. After I take some measurements I can figure out the maximum radius of the corners. That should help with snow buildup when compared to a flat top with square seams all the way around it. 3 pieces of material instead of 5 would be an improvement too. It should have grommets at the bottom so I can snug it up with bungee cords and not rely on its weight alone to hold it in place. I want it to be more heavy duty than the store bought covers, but not so heavy I won't want to carry it into the house when I take it off. Where the ends are slit open to go over my chain and winch cable when the plow is on it should have a strap at the bottom with a snap to hold it closed. That's all that I've thought of so far.

My cover has a sewn in strap with metal D rings attached to cinch thw cover down, the strap and D rings will not pull out or tear out like a grommet can. When designing your own the sky is the limit, but remember, the fancier the design with more bells and whistles add to the price! Labor is a big part of the cost...just be sure the material is waterproof in case of puddles forming. Mine is an extremely heavy vinyl looking material with a heavy material like canvass molded inbetween the vinyl layers. At least that is how it appears. Very pliable, never stiff even in the cold. Mine is gray in color and cleans quite easily. Might be costly but this will be the last cover you will ever buy.

Atv covers
 

I make awnings for a living. If you could give me a size that you want a cover made to... highth x width x length, then I could custom make a heavy duty long lasting cover. Hit me up